Laser ablation is a laser technology used in industrial, biological, medical and military applications.
The scientific name for laser cleaning is Laser ablation, laser ablation or photoablation is the process of removing material from a solid (or sometimes liquid) surface by irradiating it with a laser beam. At low laser fluences, the material is heated by the absorbed laser energy and vaporized or sublimated. At high laser fluences, the material is usually converted to plasma. Typically, laser ablation refers to the removal of material with a pulsed laser, but if the laser intensity is high enough, the material can be ablated with a continuous wave laser beam. Excimer lasers in the deep ultraviolet are mainly used for photoablation. The laser wavelength used for photoablation is about 200 nm.
Laser cleaning principle
Military
Laser guns are often seen in movies. It is laser ablation that transfers momentum to a surface, with an effect similar to hitting a surface with a hammer. This is because the ablated material applies a high-pressure pulse to the surface beneath it as it expands. This process is used in industry to harden metal surfaces, and as a weapon is a laser weapon.
Medical
When it comes to laser cleaning, many people think of tattoo cleaning, etc. It is the use of CO2 or Nd:YAG pulsed lasers to clean surfaces, remove hyperpigmentation, improve the appearance of scar tissue (which cannot be healed), and reshape the outer layers of the skin without damaging the outer lower layers. It is actually used in a variety of medical specialties, including ophthalmology, general surgery, neurosurgery, ear, nose and throat, dentistry, oral and maxillofacial surgery, and veterinary medicine. Laser scalpels are used to ablate both hard and soft tissues. Some of the most common medical applications using laser ablation include LASIK, skin resurfacing, cavity preparation, biopsy, and tumor and lesion removal. In soft tissue surgery, the CO2 laser beam ablates and cauterizes at the same time, making it the most practical and common soft tissue laser. There are several types of lasers used in medicine including Argon, Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Dye,, Excimer, Nd:YAG and others.
Laser cleaning can be used for benign and malignant lesions in a variety of organs, which is referred to as laser-induced interstitial thermotherapy. Major current applications include reduction of benign thyroid nodules.
Compared with traditional cleaning methods such as mechanical friction cleaning, chemical corrosion cleaning, liquid and solid impact cleaning and high-frequency ultrasonic cleaning, laser cleaning has obvious advantages.
1. laser cleaning is a "green" cleaning methods, do not need to use any chemicals and cleaning fluids, cleaning down the waste is basically a solid powder, small size, easy to store, can be recycled, can easily solve the environmental pollution problems caused by chemical cleaning. 2. traditional cleaning methods are often chemical corrosion cleaning, liquid and solid impact cleaning, high-frequency ultrasonic cleaning and other traditional cleaning methods;
2. traditional cleaning methods are often contact cleaning, cleaning the surface of the object has a mechanical force, damage to the surface of the object or cleaning medium attached to the surface of the object to be cleaned, can not be removed, resulting in secondary pollution, laser cleaning of non-abrasive and non-contact so that these problems are solved;
3. The laser can be transmitted through the fiber optic, and robots and robots to match, easy to achieve long-distance operation, can clean the traditional method is not easy to reach the parts, which in some dangerous places to use can ensure the safety of personnel;
4. Laser cleaning can remove various types of pollutants on the surface of various materials, to achieve the cleanliness that cannot be achieved by conventional cleaning. And also can not damage the surface of the material in the case of selective cleaning of the material surface pollutants;
5. Laser cleaning is highly efficient and saves time;
6. Purchase of laser cleaning system, although the initial one-time investment is higher, but the cleaning system can be used for long-term stability, low operating costs, only the cost of electricity per hour.
Simply put, for metal, ceramics, rubber for tires, etc., low cost, good results do not hurt the substrate, especially suitable.
Tire mold and other mold cleaning:
Tire manufacturers around the world make hundreds of millions of tires each year, and tire molds must be cleaned quickly and reliably during the production process to save downtime. Traditional cleaning methods include sandblasting, ultrasonic or carbon dioxide cleaning, etc., but these methods usually must be in the high heat of the mold after several hours of cooling, and then moved to the cleaning equipment for cleaning, cleaning takes a long time, and easy to damage the accuracy of the mold, chemical solvents and noise will also produce safety and environmental protection and other issues. The use of laser cleaning method, because the laser can be used to transmit optical fiber, so the use of deep flexibility; because the laser cleaning method can be connected to the fiber optic light guide to the mold's dead corners or not easy to remove the parts of the cleaning, so easy to use; because the rubber is not gasification, so it will not produce toxic gases, affecting the safety of the working environment. Laser cleaning tire mold technology has been used in a large number of tire industry in Europe and the United States, although the initial investment cost is high, but can save standby time, avoid mold damage, work safety and save raw materials on the gains made by the rapid recovery. According to the laser cleaning equipment in the tire company production line cleaning test shows that only 2 hours can be online to clean a set of large set of heavy-duty tire mold. Compared to conventional cleaning methods, the economic benefits are obvious.
Comparison of the effect of laser cleaning of tires and molds
In the food industry, where the anti-adhesive elastomer layer on the mold needs to be replaced periodically to ensure hygiene, laser cleaning without chemicals is particularly suitable for this application.
Steel Cleaning
Steel cleaning in the general use of domestic methods is acid washing, serious pollution of the environment, laser cleaning in this area in the state of research and development, if successful, will be a technological revolution.
In summary, laser cleaning is an amazing technology, its use is not only in the medical cosmetic, surgery, etc., its development in the industry has emerged, the international (real industrial applications is 2017) domestic 2019 start. This environmental star of tomorrow will certainly shine and glow.
